THE SPA

Just a couple of weeks ago, my sisters and I had a girls spa day at The Founders Inn. MY experience there was extremely different from another reviewers. When we arrived we were quickly attended to by the friendly young lady at the desk and given a tour of the spa area along with our locker keys. The robes and shoes are provided in the lockers. The locker room area included showers and restrooms and the facility was private and lovely. There's a pool and spa in addition to a sun room to lounge in. I decided on the sun room and drank a cup of tea while waiting on my massage.

THE MASSAGE

I'm very particular when it comes to massages. They don't really do it for me, as I rarely get a worthwhile masseuse to do the most basic thing, help me relax! I had almost given up on 'em until I met Tonia. She is one of the masseuses there and worked wonders on my tired back. She is friendly and professional, and seems to be very knowledgable about her craft. If you're thinking about having a spa day with the girls or just need to relax your tired or injured body, be sure to visit her. The only bad thing I can think of is that she doesn't live in California so I will have to wait 'till I'm back in Virginia to get my massage. My sister had the other masseuse who worked there and had good things to say about her too.

BRUNCH

A couple of times here for Brunch with the family and I'm sold. There's a seafood bar with yummy crab cakes, a dessert bar with many different cakes, the waffles are amazingly soft. You'll find the food they serve at Brunch is consistently great and the selection is large enough for a picky eater.

THE HOTEL

I've stayed here before for the New Years package, and have decided not to return for the rooms. The management addressed my concerns after I wrote the review, but I would rather stop by just for Brunch and Spa. Although my overnight stay was sub par, I think you'll find the grounds to be well kept and lovely with an old world charm in it's decor, the restaurant keeps a good chef, and the spa (with Tonia) is a gem. :-)

A more accurate name would be, The Founders Spa and Brunch

A year ago I complained on Trip Advisor that the hotel and in particular its Swan Terrace restaurant had declined in quality from the year before. Now I am happy to say that the Inn is better than ever.

Again we had our Christmas dinner here. Everything had improved. There was everything on the menu that anyone in our party of 10 could have wanted. The price per person had risen by $5 to $40, but we took a chance, hoping that perhaps the Inn had corrected the problems of inadequate selections and not fresh, hot food. All was excellent. What a feast. And the hotel itself was sparkling clean and decorated beautifully.

I learned this year that the hotel and Regent University is part of the Pat Robertson network. Had I known that before, my prejudices against him might have prevented me from going. However, there are probably plenty of other institutions I patronize that also have kooky owners, and I'm sure he's not the worst. (How's that for rationalization?)

In any event, everyone in the family had a great time again, and we will go back next year, I hope. It is a terrific place for a family reunion.

Stayed at the Founders Inn as part of the New Year package. I had certain expectations for an inn and spa with a higher priced menu.

First the accommodation was average, it took several hours for the room to heat up to a reasonable level we were staying on the third floor in building 4. That's the next problem, we had no idea there were separate buildings so accordingly I did not bring any jacket expecting to just walk into dinner within the same building. With cold temperatures and a brisk wind it was uncomfortable walking between buildings.

Second the so called spa was very disappointing. I was looking forward to spending time there and it was one of the main reasons we chose this location. Bear in mind the spa is in another building we were not provided robes in our rooms and I did not see any in the spa area either. So after finishing my time there I wrapped myself in towels for my cold walk back to my room. The pool is small once you have 4 people in there it's starting to get crowded especially if you want to swim. The hot tub was a very big disappointment, it was luke warm at best. There was no where I could get warm! I couldn't figure out how to get a locker so I just took my clothes with me into the pool area. The changing room did not have clean floors I ended up with a lot of debris stuck to my feet. My husband used the gym and he said that was a good experience.

Third the inn itself was cold in the communal areas, we tried sitting next to a fire in the lounge area but still could not get warm. They provided hot cider which was barely warm. The decorations were lovely the outside lights lit up the entire garden with a magical glow. We went to dinner and there was no attention to detail. We had to ask for cutlery and plates that were missing from the table even after one member of staff had checked the table was ready. Our bottle of wine arrived during our third course, the service just seemed very disorganized, this was not a diner but also was not a fine dining establishment. Food ranged from very good to average, some creative items on the menu, it would have benefitted from being hot. Breakfast was good although we were unsure whether you just helped yourself since no one told us so we sat and waited to see what other people did.

The experience may be different in the height of summer when the hot tub may feel warmer and the outdoor pool is open giving more room to indoor swimmers.

There just seemed to be a lack of detail by staff which to us would have made a big difference. My advice to management would to work on this in particular issue, maybe there needs to be more training? I'm a very well travelled person and have paid much less for much better service.

I will skip this location in the future which is a shame because the main building has lovely decor and the food is good.

I've avoided the Founder's Inn for it's connections with Pat Robertson for a very long time, but I'm glad I finally gave it a chance. We were there around the holidays and the entire hotel was decorated beautifully. We had a very large corner room with a fireplace. It is not modern. It's colonial style so if you're looking for something sleek and new it's not for you. The Swan Terrace Restaurant was excellent. We had a leisurely meal for a very reasonable price.